Westcountry Farmhouse Cheddar and grass-fed Devon beef were among the products highlighted by Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, as he announced plans to introduce a “gold-standard” metric for food labelling.

Addressing delegates at the Oxford Farming Conference last week (January 3-5), Gove said he wanted to develop new approaches to food labelling after Britain leaves the European Union.

“I want to underline that I recognise the heart of almost all farming businesses is food production,” he explained. “And a core element of Defra’s mission is supporting farmers in the provision of competitively-priced, healthy, sustainable and nutritious food, and pursuing greater market access.

“But I believe it’s critical as we think of food production and the role of farming in the future that we develop policy which looks at the food-chain as a whole, from farm to fork, and we also recognise the economic, health and environmental forces shaping the future of food.”

Speaking during the main politics session of the annual conference, held at Oxford University’s Examination Halls under the theme Embracing Change, Mr Gove stressed food and drink is the UK’s biggest manufacturing sector and one of the fastest growing, with an increase of 8% in exports to the EU and 10% in exports outside the EU in the first three quarters of last year alone.

That success has been built on a reputation for quality and provenance, on the knowledge that we have among the highest environmental and animal welfare standards of any nation on earth,” he said. “So people know when they’re buying British they’re buying food which is guaranteed to be high quality and more sustainable.

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“That’s why it would be foolish for us to lower animal welfare or environmental standards in trade deals, and in so doing undercut our own reputation for quality. We will succeed in the global market place because we are competing at the top of the value chain not trying to win a race to the bottom.

“And Government can help in that process by under-writing that reputation for quality. Which is why I want us, outside the EU, to develop new approaches to food labelling. Not just badging food properly as British, but also creating a new gold-standard metric for food and farming quality.”

Mr Gove added that while farmers can secure recognition for high animal welfare and environmental standards from schemes including Red Tractor Assurance and LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), there is currently no “single, scaled measure” of how a farmer or food producer performs against a “sensible basket of indicators” – taking into account criteria such as soil health, control of pollution and contribution to water quality.

Beef from grass-fed cattle in Devon, such as these Red Rubies, was highlighted by the Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, in his speech at the Oxford Farming Conference

“We’ve been in discussion with a number of farmers and food producers about how we might advance such a scheme and I think that, outside the EU, we could establish a measure of farm and food quality which would be world-leading,” he went on.

“Because while price will always be a factor in the choices consumers make, they are also increasingly making choices based on other factors too. If we look at some of the fastest growing food brands, providing the most value added for both consumers and producers, then it’s being able to provide certainty over origins, traceability of ingredients, integrity in production and a distinctiveness in taste which matter more and more.

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“And Government can help, by acting as a champion for British produce in foreign markets, operating a better procurement policy at home, keeping existing market access open and securing new free trade deals for producers.”

He concluded: “I understand that people in this room, and beyond, particularly want to know what will happen to access to our biggest export market – the EU 27. By definition, we cannot yet know the final outcome of a trade negotiation which is about to get underway, and Defra is preparing for every eventuality. But we are confident of building a new economic partnership with the EU that guarantees tariff-free access for agri-food goods across each other’s borders.

“We know that we have a deficit in agricultural and horticultural produce with the EU 27. Irish beef farmers, French butter and cheese producers, Dutch market gardeners and Spanish salad growers all have an interest just as, if not more acute, than Welsh sheep farmers or Ulster dairy farmers in securing continued tariff-free access between the UK and the EU.

Michael Gove is keen for British farmers to pursue new export opportunities outside of Europe, such as the Chinese pork market (Image: Richard Austin)

“But we should be, and we are, more ambitious than that. Securing greater access to, and penetration of, other markets will be important to British agriculture’s further success.

“Increasing exports to, for example, China is not just a good in itself in trade terms it also helps the business model of many farmers to work even better. There are, as we all know, parts of the pig for example which don’t find favour with the British consumer but which are delicacies in China. Satisfying that demand means other parts of the carcase can be used to meet demand at home, or indeed elsewhere in Europe, which is currently met by Dutch and by Danish farmers.

“Pursuing new trade opportunities outside Europe can make us more competitive with Europe.”